Investigating speaking performance and affective characteristics of speaking in terms of cultural capital

In today's world in which social interaction is increasing, the need for qualified speaking is also increasing. Cultural capital, which can be one of the reasons for and predictors of individual differentiation in speaking performance and affective dimensions of speaking, is a type of capital that contains long-term habits obtained in the socialization process, educational characteristics, sociocultural activities and esthetic preferences. In this regard, the current study mainly aims to determine the predictive role of cultural capital on speaking performance, speaking anxiety, speaking attitude, and speaking self-efficacy. The study was designed as a mixed-method study which utilized qualitative and quantitative research techniques together. The study data were collected from a total of 263 individuals, of whom 118 were females and 145 were males, with different ages and professions. The data were collected using the scales of Cultural Capital, Speaking Anxiety, Speaking Attitude, and Speaking Self-efficacy, and a semi-structured interview form. Participants were recorded on video while speaking and evaluated by three field experts using the Speaking Performance Rating Scale developed by the researcher of the study. The study used correlation (the Pearson correlation coefficient), simple linear regression, and content analysis. The results obtained in the study revealed a significant difference between cultural capital and speaking performance, speaking anxiety, speaking attitude, and speaking self-efficacy. It was further found that cultural capital clarifies 77.2% of the variance in speaking performance, 20.8% of the variance in speaking anxiety, 44.4% of the variance in speaking attitude, and 58.2% of the variance in speaking self-efficacy and that cultural capital significantly predicted these variables. Also, 87.07% of the participants stated that cultural capital affects speaking performance and approximately 94.29% of the participants stated that there is a parallelism between cultural capital competency and speaking performance. Considering all these results together, it can be concluded that cultural capital has an important role in speaking performance and the affective characteristics of speaking.